Posts tagged graphene

Step aside, graphene, "silicene" is the trendy new nano-material in town that could one day supercharge future tech. Scientists have created the world's first transistor out of the silicon-based material, and it's a mere one atom thick. Unlike its much-maligned graphene cousin -- which has yet liv...

The deep frying process isn't just useful for livening up your food -- it might also be the ticket to better batteries in your mobile devices. South Korean researchers have created highly conductive, stable electrode materials by spraying graphene oxide droplets into a very hot blend of acid and o...

Here's another new use for graphene (that will probably never happen): stopping bullets. University of Massachusetts-Amhers researchers have found that everybody's favorite potential wonder-material vastly outperforms steel and even kevlar armor. Testing the ultra-lightweight, 1-atom thick carbon ...

Someday, you might be able to stick a temporary tattoo on your skin that's wired to light up or act as a display -- one that's made out of hybrid graphene. If you regularly read Engadget, then you're most likely familiar with graphene: It's that ultra-thin miracle material companies and researcher...

Neural activity maps frequently present an incomplete picture of how a brain works; you can measure electrical activity, stimulate it or visualize the anatomy, but you can't do all three. DARPA and the University of Wisconsin might just pull off that seemingly impossible feat, however. They recent...

It's very tough to find light beyond certain frequencies. If you want to see elusive terahertz waves, for example, you have to get a system that's either really slow or needs to be kept at a temperature near absolute zero -- not exactly practical. The University of Maryland's scientists have a bet...

Forget lab-made materials like graphene -- natural, old-fashioned hemp may be the ticket to our energy future. Researchers have demonstrated that you can make very efficient carbon electrodes simply by heating hemp bast fibers in a two-stage process. The resulting substance holds as much energy as...

Everyone talks about graphene as if it'll solve all of the world's problems, forgetting that it's got a few of its own, too. The biggest issue is that the substance only works in two dimensions, making it hard to use to build complex pieces of hardware. That's why researchers from Oxford, Stanford...

While the rest of the world has been harping on about how strong, conductive, light-sensitive and generally amazing graphene is, stern-faced researchers at the University of California have been investigating the material's potential downsides. They've shown that graphene oxide nanoparticles fail ...

Graphene. It was going to reinvigorate the electronics industry. Better than silicon, flexible yet more durable than steel and with high heat conduction, it all sounded like The Dream for thinner components and wearables.. but it kinda faded away. Well, it's back, according to Samsung. In a partne...

Chips with graphene inside are theoretically quicker than plain silicon designs, but they've been slow in practice; the manufacturing process often damages the graphene, stripping away its speed advantage. That won't be a big problem with IBM's prototype radio receiver, though. The company inserte...

Researchers have been using graphene to develop an assortment of technologically advanced things for a while, from camera sensors and contact lenses all the way to frickin' lasers. That's why it's not a surprise to see a group of engineers from Columbia University create the world's smallest FM tr...

IBM built an integrated circuit using graphene back in 2011, but it wasn't a complete breakthrough -- much of the hardware was based on old-fashioned metal and silicon. UC Santa Barbara has gone one step further by showing how to design an IC made exclusively from the advanced substance. The new p...

Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days.
This week's alternative roundup focuses on exploration, experimentation and discovery -- both on land and in space. Here on Earth, Cornell's stumbled upon a new glass that breaks records and researche...

Of the contact lens display prototypes that we've seen so far, few if any are focused on comfort -- a slight problem when they're meant to sit on our eyeballs. A collaboration between Samsung and multiple universities may solve this with display tech that's meant to be cozy from the start. By putt...

While we're still scratching around with Ultrapixels and OIS, scientists in Singapore claim they're working on something that could change the entire field of photography. Researchers at the Nanyang Technological University have developed an image sensor made out of graphene that's 1,000 times bet...

For most of us, molecular bonding only really exists as a classroom concept. Some scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory can now claim more tangible knowledge, however: they're the first to have taken truly clear snapshots of bonding in progress. While trying to create graphene nanost...

You already know that graphene can be used to make transistors, solar cells and even Sennheiser-quality cans. But if you think that's about as cool as the carbon material can get, listen to this: It can also be used to make ultrashort-pulse lasers. According to scientists from a smattering of inst...

We've seen graphene chips, and we've seen molybdenite chips. What would happen if we combined the two? If EPFL's experimental flash memory is any clue, we might get one of the better blends since chocolate met peanut butter. The chip uses graphene's high conductivity for the memory itself, as well...

Feeling smug about those brand-name cans you just bought? A pair of researchers from Berkeley just made 'em obsolete with some Graphene. Conventional gear needs an oscillator that has to be damped down to produce a constant sound between 20Hz and 20kHz. Graphene, on the other hand, can be tailored...